In existence for nearly half a century, AIA San Francisco’s Design Awards program recognizes the outstanding achievements in architecture and design of Bay Area individuals and organizations as well as celebrates the distinguished work of architects and related professionals from afar who contribute to the framework of our local built environment. The program serves to inform the public of the breadth and value of architectural practice.

The 2018 AIASF Design Awards program will be juried in Boston, Massachussetts.

2018 Award Briefs

The Design Awards submission is structured into main categories and optional concentrations. In addition to the design awards given in each main category –Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Unbuilt Design– the jury may also choose to recognize projects that exhibit special achievements in three concentrations, giving special acknowledgement to projects that further encompass the values of good design within the context of historic preservation, urban design, and social responsibility.

With this format we hope to demonstrate that all of these disciplines explored collectively, rather than independently, strengthen the overall power and scope of architecture to help shape the built environment and enrich the human spirit.

In recognition of the importance of sustainable design, AIASF instituted a separate award category for energy and sustainability in 2003. In the last 14 years, the profession as a whole has transformed the way it designs, builds, and maintains buildings. The Design Awards program now incorporates the fulfillment of sustainable design principles into all categories. Sponsored by PG&E Pacific Energy Center.

How to Submit

Please submit your projects directly through the AIASF awards portal; you will need to sign in with an aiasf.org account to access the portal. If you do not already have an AIASF login, you can create one here.

If you are having difficulty logging in to aiasf.org, please contact AIASF.

Redeem AXP Credit Hours

AXP candidates can receive up to credit hours for design competition entries. Candidates should fill out the Design Awards Verification form. This form is to certify that the AIASF Design Awards program meets the requirements of completing a design competition for AXP credit as defined in the AXP Guidelines.

2017 Jury

Brian Cavanaugh is a Principal and Co-Founder of Architecture Building Culture (ABC). With over 20 years of experience, Brian has demonstrated a unique commitment to the practice of architecture and played a critical leadership role in his community. His record of design excellence, his contributions to academic and non-profit institutions, and his positions on municipal boards, all speak to a career built on a deeply held belief in the value of the architecture profession and its potential to serve the public good.

The work Brian and his firm has won numerous design awards – including local, state and regional design awards - and been published throughout the world. In 2012 Brian received the Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects. In 2014 ABC won the AIA Northwest & Pacific Region Emerging Firm of the Year Award.

Brian is the current President of both AIA Portland and the Center for Architecture.

A Principal with Bora Architects, Amy Donohue has over two decades of experience designing spaces for education, performance and collaborative work. Her recent projects include the Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvey Mudd College, the Learning Innovation Center at Oregon State University, the Earlham College Center for Visual and Performing Arts, and the McHenry Library renovation and addition at University of California, Santa Cruz. In addition to her work in higher education, Amy has led a number of projects for Google and Microsoft. Amy holds a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University. She has served as an assistant design instructor at Princeton University and adjunct professor for architectural design at the University of Oregon. From 2003 to 2010, she was actively involved with the Board of Trustees for the Oregon College of Art & Craft, serving as Chair of the Board in 2009. Amy currently serves on the Board of Literary Arts.

Joann Le was born and raised in Vietnam and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1972. She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and subsequently acquired her master's degree at the University of California, Berkeley. She has practiced architecture in the California Bay Area and in Portland, Oregon, prior to founding DAO Architecture in 2004. Ms. Le has more than 22 years architecture experience; she has worked on a wide variety of educational, cultural, and recreational facilities, including art museums, classroom buildings, and theaters, while employed by the offices of Polshek and Partners, TVA Architects, and Thomas Hacker Architects. As principal at DAO, she has directed work on multipurpose, educational, and arts facilities in Portland, Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Canby, and other communities in the Portland-metropolitan area. Her recent work includes architectural, interior, and urban design for mixed-use developments that have served to focus the revitalization of diverse districts such as Old Town, the MLK corridor, and Lents. She has lived and studied in various Asian, European, and Middle-Eastern regions and brings this broad spatial and cultural perspective to DAO's local and regional architectural solutions. Ms. Le serves as a frequent architectural critic at the University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Marylhurst University. She is a registered architect in Oregon, California, and Arizona.

Thomas Robinson founded LEVER Architecture, a progressive Portland, Oregon based practice, in 2009. His work explores the link between architectural experience and material innovation. Thinking at the level of construction from the outset allows Robinson to align concept with reality and bring greater quality to everyday building types. His practice is pioneering the use of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in North America with Framework, winner of the US Tall Wood Building Competition Prize and slated to be the first mass timber high-rise in the US. Other significant completions include Albina Yard, the first US office building made from domestically-fabricated CLT; student housing for the Pacific Northwest College of Art; and the L’Angolo Estate winery. His firm recently received the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices Award and has been recognized for design excellence by AIA Chapters in Portland, the Northwest Region, and Los Angeles. Prior to founding LEVER, Robinson led cultural and institutional projects for Allied Works and Herzog & de Meuron. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master in Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Carrie earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the College of Design, Architecture, Art + Planning at the University of Cincinnati and is a registered architect in Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Colorado and Ohio. She has built an extensive background in adaptive re-use and speculative development while advocating for design as the basis for urban interventions. Carrie has served as visiting professor at Portland State University and the University of Oregon. She regularly serves on forums and lecture panels discussing design in the Pacific Northwest; has served on the board of directors for the AIA Portland chapter; was chair of the City of Portland’s Development Review Advisory Committee; and is a co-founder of Project Cityscope, a non-profit platform with a focus on multi-discipline urban fabric and design.

CALIFORNIA AND NATIONAL AWARD PROGRAMS

Visit the following websites for more information on state-wide and national design award programs: